Sensitive

Comedians are generally very sensitive people. To pick up the nuances of life astutely enough to formulate a joke, usually at lightning speed, and which always has to cut to the core of a truth to be funny, they have to be sensitive. And they have to feel enough of the pain of life to need to make a joke in the first place. Charlie Chaplin said, “To truly laugh you must take your pain and play with it.”

Case in Point: Harpo Marx. Definitely the sensitive one. My favorite Marx Brother.

Harpo would dramatically shift from goofy clown to sensitive musician in a flash – and just as suddenly alternate back to clown the moment his hand left his harp. Harpo never spoke but they say he had a rich resonant voice. Never underestimate the power of the sensitive one.

Just like Steven Colbert on The Colbert Report spontaneously breaking into an acapello Banana Boat song with Harry Belafonte. Nothing short of sweet.

Down and out with a sprained ankle, I needed some laughs recently and dragged out my copy of Night at the Opera. My favorite Marx Brothers movie. Totally goofy, corny and just hilarious! The one and only Margaret Dumont, the overcrowded train compartment, the on-stage antics during Il Trovatore, the expessions on Harpo’s face and on and on...

Photo: Harpo Marx/Wikimedia